Speckle Park conformation attracted Riverina producer

North-west of Hay on Keiross, with its eastern boundary to the Lachlan River, Doug Comb and his daughter Dimity have taken their cattle operation to a higher level with the introduction of Speckle Park cattle through an Embryo Transfer process.

The breed was founded in Canada, and although the western Riverina is more noted for heat waves than snow storms, Mr Comb said the ET calves when born have no problem coping with the seasonal conditions on the 23,000ha property purchased by his grandparents in 1955.

"They have a great constitution," Mr Comb said when explaining his fondness for the North American breed.

"Although they were originally bred to a cold climate, they have handled our heat - the second lot of calves born here were dropped in February during a period of temperatures in the high thirties and showed no distress."

Alongside the Merino flock, a Hereford herd was always a feature of Keiross from the time of its purchase in 1955, and Mr Comb noted a later introduction of Murray Greys when the grey baldy cross was attracting a greater premium than pure Hereford steers.

"But when the seasons got a bit tough a few years ago, we sold out most of cattle, but with a recent run of good seasons we are getting back into cattle," he said.

"I saw a nice Speckle Park bull on a neighbour's property and I liked the look of him.

"He had a nice butt, was a good shape and medium frame which is very important - they are not going to require a lot of feed to maintain production.

The colour was also interesting, but Mr Comb was more taken with the conformation of the bull which he considered ideal for his country.

"They don't take too long to grow out and when I started to look into the breed I noticed they were winning a lot of carcass competitions," he said.

"Because they are a cross between Angus and Teeswater Shorthorn and White Park, they had been bred for marbling but the colour of their skins did take my eye.

Mr Comb did admit the skin colour was attractive, but it is more important to have the right carcass and temperament.

He recalled upon leaving school he worked as a butcher for ten years prior to turning to the land, so he feels very confident when looking at an animal and assessing its carcass.

"They are very quiet cattle, and the marbling is important for eating quality," he said.

"The breed are also becoming quite popular to cross with many other cattle breeds.

"We have to produce what the consumer wants if we are to continue to breed cattle."

He started with Angus Friesian's for their milking ability, however as they became harder to source, Angus and Shorthorns have been used most recently.

Many embryos are sourced from Canada, as well as numerous from Dale Humphries, Wattle Grove Speckle Park, Oberon, while the Comb's also flush a number of their own donor cows now as a result of purchasing and breeding elite females.

"Some females of our own include Three Ways Gracelands M27 the highest priced Speckle Park heifer for many years, and a recent exciting purchase of Ewyn 23E Sassafras R12 that will join our team," Mr Comb said.

"When choosing genetics and semen we aspire to buy the best in the hope to breed the best!!"

They now have over 80 ET calves dropped at Keiross, with homebred heifers coming into the herd.

Keiross Speckle Park (KRS) offer both stud and commercial bulls with many sales across NSW, Victoria and southern QLD.

"It is unusual to have Speckle Park cattle in these traditional areas, but we are very happy with their productive traits, and growing popularity in the agricultural sector in Australia," Mr Comb said.

"After three ET programs this year we are aiming for approximately 100 ET calves to hit the ground next year."

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